Capnography vs oximetry

George and others have pointed out the importance of breathing and averting or stopping an AF episode.
This is a good video shedding some more light on the importance of appropriate breathing.
[www.youtube.com]
I feel that changing my breathing when the heart beating gets a bit unsteady helps to return a normal beat.

Interesting. Looked up the capnography machine in the video. A bit pricey at $3,500.

Using similar tools, Dr. Konstantin Buteyko, measured % Alveolar CO2 in % and mmHg. This was for research for the USSR space program. He developed a simple test he called the "Control Pause" or CP and created a correlation:



The CP (aka Body Oxygen) test is very simple. You are breathing normally through your nose. At the end of a normal exhale (not a complete exhale) you hold your breath out till you feel your first urge to breathe. The time from when you start holding your breath out till you feel this urge (this is NOT a maximal breath hold) is your CP (in seconds). A couple of more detailed explanations are <[www.normalbreathing.com] and <[www.doctorbuteykodiscoverytrilogy.com]

When I'm doing well, mine is in the high 20's, which is not high on the scale. It takes work. When my CP is high, not breathing is very easy. You are basically resetting the level the CO2 sensor in your breathing center triggers to have you breathe (think free divers as an endpoint). The reason you want more serum CO2 is the Bohr Effect <[en.wikipedia.org] - a lower serum pH makes it easier for the blood hemoglobin to release the oxygen to your cells. See the disassociation curve <[en.wikipedia.org] Therefore the cells get more oxygen. More on this topic here <[www.afibbers.org]

One of the tools I use is a rebreather from Russia (a Frolov device <[www.normalbreathing.com] ). It retains a bit of the CO2 from each breath, thereby increasing the CO2 in the incoming breath.

Note, there are some serious conditions where people do not get rid of enough CO2. This can happen in sleep apnea. My self explorations are for those who are well and don't have these issues. For those who do, consulting an expert is in order before trying any of this.

George

Yes, too expensive for home use.
Thanks for the reminder on the links! I find it not that easy to establish my CP. Not sure if my consciousness of breathing changes it. It seems to be 13 to 15 seconds - not good, i'm diseased going by the chart.

I've found this 20 minute mp3 is a good exercise, both for breathing and as a meditation tool <[www.dropbox.com] It is from breathing instructor, Patrick McKeown. Anxiety Free is one of his programs. The idea is the slower and lower volume breathing will decrease sympathetic dominance (as a vagal afibber, I've never had this or any other meditation technique trigger a vagal afib episode).

I just did Patrick McKeown's 20-min breathing exercise & even though my heart still "hurts" feeling hyperthyroid like, my pulse is now 78. It was 95 three hr ago when I last took it. I have been feeling racy & tired post ablation & getting off my sotalol 2 weeks ago. Thanks.